BUSHkids 2016-17 Annual Report

STAFF

Meet some more of our staff …

On the Southern Downs at Inglewood, Early Intervention Facilitator Sue Clarke is one of BUSHkids’ longest- serving staff members with more than 27 years’ service to her credit.

“Every day one or all of the kids will demonstrate how their skills are growing and developing. It’s very rewarding to see their abilities, confidence, social skills and willingness just to have a go getting stronger every day. These are the skills which are so important when they start school. “I was really proud to be able to share my experiences as eKindy facilitator at this year’s BUSHkids conference. I really valued the feedback from the team, particularly their support and suggestions on how best to further develop the role. Our annual conference is a fantastic forum for sharing information and ideas. “It’s funny, when I started at BUSHkids all those years ago I was told I could be here until I was 55 if I liked it. I am now just about to hit 60, I’m still learning and developing my role and if I can I hope to be here many more wonderful years to come.”

With BUSHkids now supporting five eKindy pods across Queensland, Sue’s work has expanded to take on the role of eKindy facilitator for Yelarbon on the New South Wales border and Karara up on the Southern Downs. eKindy is an innovative distance learning program provided through Brisbane School of Distance Education (BSDE) which enables four-year-old children from rural and remote communities to benefit from a kindergarten early learning experience and helps prepare them for starting school. BUSHkids provides the eKindy facilitator who is supported by distance education supervisors from BSDE. “It’s definitely not a role I had ever considered before, but it’s been interesting and stimulating learning new things,” Sue says. “The enjoyment I get from working with the kids is incredible. Meeting my supervisors and mentors from Distance Education and having them there to develop the role is so supportive and has made the transition into the eKindy facilitator role incredibly easy and fulfilling. We also have fantastic co-operation and support from the principals of the schools in Yelarbon and Karara where I run the eKindies.

The kids from our Sue’s eKindy pods inYelarbon and Karara made these great pictures using their handprints of an Echidna and a Snake to say thanks to their distance education supervisors at the end of the program.

Another BUSHkids staff member who has been helping set up the new NDIS service is Clinical Admin. Officer Joy Quantrell at our Toowong offices. Joy has been with the organisation just under a year and is loving her new role. “It felt good to help arrange the recruitment of our NDIS Early Start service teams in

Like Joy, Ken Lewis is part of our Toowong office team: he’s our in-house IT expert and has worked for the organisation for a little over two years. Like his Toowong colleagues, Ken got a lot out of this year’s annual conference. “Being part of BUSHkids conference really gives Brisbane-based staff like me, who

Bundaberg and more recently Rockhampton and Gladstone,” said Joy. “Although I’ve worked in admin for some time, I’ve never been involved with an interview process before. To be involved in group interviews, facilitating and giving feedback has been a great learning experience and being part of the establishment of the NDIS Early Start team in Bundaberg is something I’m extremely proud of. “With the NDIS set-up we are constantly busy and it’s getting busier as the launch of the service in Central Queensland gets closer. It’s great that the organisation is expanding through its partnership with the NDIS and I’m excited about BUSHkids’ future. “Everything I do at BUSHkids is challenging – in a good and fulfilling way. My sister has a young son with autism so I’ve seen first-hand what a struggle it can be for families, so it’s great to know I’m contributing in some way to helping young children and families like theirs. BUSHkids is a great organisation to work for and I’m proud of the work we do to improve the lives of children and their families across regional Queensland.”

have limited exposure to the work our rural and regional teams, a real sense of the value and worth of what BUSHkids does for communities,” Ken said. “Some of the stories of how our teams have helped families are truly inspiring and I’m glad to be a small part of an organisation which helps families in need. “Working for BUSHkids is a great opportunity for me as an IT specialist. In the last two years I’ve been involved with helping develop and rollout a number of important IT infrastructure projects that have, and will, help our rural teams communicate and collaborate more efficiently. Not only this, but the changes we have made will save costs and help reduce business risk. “Over the last few months I’ve been working on the development of BUSHkids’ new website. Our current site has been around since 2011, and six years is a long time in the IT industry. While the existing website has all the information people need, it can be hard to find. Plus, technology has come a long way – people are regularly using tablets and smartphones to access the internet, so we need to ensure the site is optimised to work on these mobile devices. “The new site will be more intuitive and easier to use, and most importantly it’s designed to make it easier for families to find out about and access our services. It’s a big step forward for us.”

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